Changing Hearts
by Dawnheart98
Summary: A quest for love-will Naruto and Hinata find true happiness? Threats come from all sides, including jealous and disapproving friends.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: _Hi, everyone! I'm excited to finally put up this first chapter! I hope you like it! There's more on the way, and I'm excited to see how many readers I get, and the kinds of reviews! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Yum, yum, yum! Ra-ah-meh-en!"

Sasuke and Naruto were at Ichiraku's Ramen, Naruto's all time favorite ramen place, waiting for—what else—ramen. (Sasuke didn't think anyone could say _ramen _more times in one sentence. Hanging around Naruto did that to a person.)Sasuke was leaned against the counter, facing the exit, but was looking at Naruto. The blonde haired boy had his hands in fists on the counter, in one of them a pair of chopsticks. Naruto's bright blue eyes were on nothing but his beloved ramen, being prepared before his eyes. They were both sitting on dark wooden stools, and Sasuke was finding it hard to get quite comfortable.

"Does your life revolve around ramen?" Sasuke wondered out loud, making sure his voice held enough scathing. While Naruto answered, Sasuke thought, _Don't I already know the answer to that one?_

Naruto nodded his head excitedly. "Oh, yeah, I love ramen!"

_Of course…_ Sasuke gazed out the window at the faceless people passing by. After a long morning of training, Sasuke and Naruto were taking a lunch break. The Leaf Village was always busy, with people bustling around. Sasuke had ordered the lightest soup on the menu with noodles, and steamed vegetables, just to be adventurous. His and Naruto's dishes were presented with great pomp.

"Enjoy!" declared Teuchi in a loud voice. Naruto cheered, raising his chopsticks, then proceeded to attack his ramen with great zeal. Sasuke inspected his food (discreetly, of course) then took a small wary bite. Finding it at least edible, Sasuke chewed his lunch slowly, allowing it to energize his entire body. Oh, what was he saying? This bowl of calories probably had no nutritional value at all.

Suddenly Sasuke noticed Naruto's expression. It was painfully gloomy and miserable.

"What's the matter, baka?" Sasuke asked gruffly.

Naruto sniffled. "It's…all gone!" he wailed.

"All the faster we can get back to training you," Sasuke pointed out without hesitation. "A hopeless ninja like you needs all the help he can get."

"All right!" Naruto cheered, jumping—no, _exploding_—out of his seat. "BACK TO TRAINING!"

"And who do suppose is going to pay for this," Sasuke asked without much emotion. He of course already knew the answer but he was just asking for the pleasure of Naruto sucking up. Which, of course, began right as Sasuke expected.

Naruto was about to dance out the door, when he froze, in mid-step. He turned around slowly, the most pleasant expression on his face.

"Sasuke-kun," Naruto began slowly. "You are the best ninja in the whole village…"

"Just shut up already," Sasuke scowled, pulling out some money to pay Teuchi.

"Thank you!" the shop-owner said greatly. "Come again soon!"

_That was unnecessary, _Sasuke thought, meaning Teuchi's last comment. Of course they would be back again—lunchtime tomorrow, at latest.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke! Guess what?" Naruto asked, cackling, tiptoeing around Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't open his mouth, waiting patiently for Naruto's answer.

"GUESS!"

Sasuke waited again.

"I have an idea."

Sasuke sighed, turning to glare at the annoying blonde. _Naruto…_

"We should, totally, train with Neji and Lee!"

Sasuke rolled his dark eyes. Naruto could have just said that at the beginning. Instead he wasted five minutes—probably forming the sentence in his head. Oh, wait, Naruto never thought before he spoke. At least they were already well on their way to Neji's place.

"They have nothing better to do anyway," Naruto was going on. Sasuke decided to tune in and out—listening to a full on one-sided Naruto conversation could surely drive someone insane. Wasn't that why Hokage Tsunadae was so inexplicably crazy?

"HELLO, EMBODIMENTS OF YOUTH IN TRAINING!" a familiar, yet painstaking, voice yelled, sounding as if it were approaching from faraway (but gaining ground extremely quickly).

"LEE!" Naruto greeted, as a green blur screeched to a halt, spewing dust everywhere. Lee's huge round eyes were glistening with excitement.

"How would YOU lucky ninjas like to train with ME?" Lee asked.

"We were just going to Neji's house to train with both of you!" Naruto grinned insanely widely. "How awesome!"

"Training with Neji! What a SPLENDID YOUTHFUL IDEA!" Lee yelled. "Only a true representation of youth could have thought of that! WELL DONE, SASUKE!"

Naruto looked exceedingly hurt. "Hey!"

Sasuke glared at both of them scrutinizing. Had he _really_ agreed to this—training with Naruto and Lee—and furthermore, at the same time? He hadn't actually given an answer—the dark haired ninja was sure. Maybe he could still …

"YAY!" Naruto cheered. "We're here!"

They stood in front of a towering house, made of white wood among others, which was definitely the Hyuugas'.

"I'd better introduce us," Sasuke muttered darkly. "We don't want Neji's parents thinking that they're sending off a freak parade."

"A PARADE OF YOUTHFULNESS!" cried Lee. "WHAT A SUPERB IDEA!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to whack Lee across the face. He walked into the courtyard, noticing the lush grass in the front yard, and stopped at the front door. He knocked loudly, then waited. He heard light footsteps, ones that Sasuke doubted were Neji's. Opening the door was a lady, more a head shorter than Sasuke, with glossy black hair and huge lavender eyes.

"Hello, Hinata," Sasuke said, keeping as much gruff out of his voice as he could manage. He couldn't scare her off. She seemed like the person that would be frightened by a falling leaf. How she was a ninja, Sasuke could not fathom.

"H-hello, S-Sasuke-kun."

"Is Neji at home?" Sasuke asked. Hinata nodded without saying anything. "He's wanted to train," Sasuke said.

"I c-can ask him to come outside," Hinata barely whispered.

Sasuke nodded approvingly. "Thanks," he muttered. He turned away, and Hinata closed the door. He walked back to the two bakas and waved them over. The three of them waited, but not for long. Neji appeared, in his white robes and long brown hair, with the ends tied together, as if it were too lazy to come out of its tie. They followed Neji to his personal training room. It was outside, but surrounded by the looming house.

"Is this safe to train in?" Sasuke wondered. "There's a danger of breaking the house."

"Then control your attacks," Neji replied.

"YOUTHFUL TEAM AGAINST _YOU_ TWO," Lee pointed at Neji and Sasuke. "GO YOUTHFULNESS!"

Sasuke smirked. Him and Neji versus Naruto and Lee? This would be too easy. He assumed a fighting stance, bending four fingers towards him, inviting the "youthful team" to attack.

Neji assumed the same pose. "Let's begin."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Sorry that this Chapter is so short! Maybe I will post Ch. 3 later today. Hope you enjoy! R&R! :)

Chapter 2

Hinata was in her room, restocking her mission supplies, and making shopping lists of things she needed to get. After a while, Hinata noticed the sounds of battle coming from the middle of the house—Neji's training arena. From the sounds of it, it was being used. Hinata remembered Sasuke from a few hours ago, asking for Neji to train with him. _They must be fighting really hard_, Hinata thought. She knew her cousin Neji would fight no less than full on, even while training. She rose, giving into the burning curiosity. She just wanted to see how they were doing. That was all. Then she'd go back to her work.

She walked silently through the house, her footsteps making no noise at all. She walked past many empty rooms, and many rooms with servants bustling about. She also passed a room with the door closed. She knew without using her byakugan that her father was inside. She was almost to the door, which would allow her to view the training grounds from above. The training arena was on the ground floor, while she was a story above. She remembered that she could have used her byakugan to see her cousin and Sasuke…but she was already at the door. She opened it and stepped outside, feeling the outside air caress her hair. She immediately spotted Neji in his white robes, and Sasuke in his black ones. But one ninja's outfit was impossible to miss…because it was bright orange. Hinata felt a wave of heat (more accurately, a tsunami) rush to her face. She was about to run back inside, but tripped over her own feet. She didn't completely faceplant, but her hasty and clumsy recovery involved much too loud steps as she staggered sideways. Her awkward recovery was noticed by all. Sasuke was blocking Lee's kick, but Lee held Sasuke's hand (which held a kunai) away from his own face. Neji and Naruto had kunais to each other's throats.

"HELLO, QUINTESSENSE OF YOUTH!" Lee greeted her. "WHY DON'T YOU JOIN OUR YOUTHFUL ACTIVITIES?"

"Yeah, Hinata, you could train with us!" Naruto called out.

"Uh…uh…" Hinata was sure that her face was completely red by now. (And it was. It would be described as "tomato red" or "apple red" or "brick red". Basically, think of anything EXTREMELY red.) _Think of something fast! _Hinata thought to herself. She was in red (haha)-alert panic mode. "I-I have to m-meet Tenten s-soon," Hinata said. "M-maybe l-later…" She ran inside the house, turning, so that _he_ couldn't see her through the door she had left open.

Neji watched his cousin flee the training room. He saw her bright red cheeks and wide worried lavender eyes. He felt a flash of elder-brotherly protection. Even though Hinata wasn't his real sister, she was just as good as. He wanted to leave the fight and make sure she was okay. He turned back to his opponent, who was now flailing about, orange sleeved arms attacking Neji like crazy. Neji easily (okay, maybe not SO easily) dodged them, but was being forced backwards. He knew he couldn't leave the fight—it would definitely come back to haunt him later, with Naruto and Lee boasting about beating him. Neji would definitely make sure his younger cousin was okay _after _the fight. She was never so gauche as he had just seen her. She was always graceful, elegant, beautiful. Except when…he studied his opponent more closely. His blue eyes were wild as he continued to jab at Neji. His three whisker marks on each cheek were angled up with his smile and his spiky yellow hair was striking. Neji vowed to drill Hinata about him later—but not scarily of course. He would never get anything out of her that way. Neji turned his full attention back onto his opponent. Naruto was now back to back with Sasuke, their hair colors contrasting greatly against each other. Neji narrowed his byakugan-empowered eyes. _Let's finish this, _he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This is another short one…the few chapters after this will be longer though, I promise! Enjoy…

Chapter 3

Kiba gaped his jaws in a ferocious yawn. He was perched in a tree, lying lazily against the thick trunk. He stretched, then hung from his knees, upside down, his black t-shirt falling down, revealing slightly tanned six-pack.

"Pull up your shirt," a quiet voice scolded him. "There are no girls here for you to show off to."

Kiba smirked, and dropped from the tree, doing a handstand, then back-flipped so he was standing upright. "But there could have been," he replied, only half-joking.

"I'm ready to leave if you are." The quiet voice belonged to Shino, one of Kiba's close friends (since they had been on the same squad.) Pretty much everything about Shino was familiar, from his small black sunglasses to his tall collar.

"Aren't we still waiting for someone?" Kiba asked, black eyes darting about to the road behind Shino.

Shino studied his fiercely spirited friend. His long red triangles marked both cheeks, and to Shino, was just another sign to not mess with that kid! "Hinata isn't coming on this mission." Shino said without emotion to his friend. Kiba's eyes jerked to Shino's, which were behind sunglasses. "Lady Tsunadae only assigned both of us to this mission."

"H-hey! I knew that. I was only joking," Kiba said gruffly. "Come on, let's go." Kiba glared at Shino, as if daring him to say otherwise, then whipped around, and loped down the path. Shino followed his friend at a slower pace. It was almost odd to be on a mission with Kiba—_without_ Akamaru. Akamaru had been sick for the past few days, and Hana hadn't allowed Akamaru to come on the mission. Kiba and Akamaru strongly opposed the decision, but Shino knew that Kiba trusted his older sister immensely, including her judgment.

"This mission is gonna suck," Kiba said angrily, slowing down so he could talk to Shino. "It's not fair that Hinata's missing out. What did she do to get out of it?"

"Hinata just returned from another mission of higher rank," Shino replied, though he suspected that Kiba knew that fairly well.

"Couldn't Tsunadae-sama have assigned this mission to a bunch of _genins_?" Kiba's scowl deepened.

Shino tried to think of something to comfort his friend. He hoped that Kiba's mood would improve when they finally reached the farms. If not, this would be much too long of a mission than it deserved to be.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sun was setting on Konoha, another productive day coming to an end. Naruto, Neji, Lee, and Sasuke had finished training a short while ago, and Naruto had gone back to his comfy flat to get ready. Was he going on a super-secret S-rank mission? Was he going to battle the Akatski? No. He had freshly showered and changed into new clothes…to be waiting a little away from Sakura's house. Why was he waiting a little away from Sakura's house? Naruto's blue eyes scanned up and down the street, anxiously. There were still the last few trickles of people, walking down the street, hurrying to their own homes, coming back from work, or running last minute errands before the day ended. Naruto felt his heart speed up, when he saw a familiar figure walking up the street, pink hair shining in the dusk sunlight. Naruto felt that he would so rather take on the Akatski than what he'd have to face right now. Naruto gulped, but brought into his memory, the warm green eyes with a sparkle of mischief in them, perfect lips curved in a playful grin, slender arms propped on her waist, always mocking Naruto. He saw the figure slow down, and Naruto wondered if Sakura recognized him.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he croaked out as she walked nearer to him. Sakura's green eyes widened a little.

"Hi, Naruto, what's up?" she asked.

"Mind if I come in for a little bit?" Naruto asked. Sakura shrugged, and opened the door to her house. Naruto followed her in.

"Come up to the sitting room," Sakura said, feeling a little awkward. What could Naruto want at this time of day? Naruto followed Sakura upstairs, and they sat opposite each other on different arm chairs. Sakura felt a spiking feeling in her throat. Was Naruto here to ask her out? She seriously hoped not. She had hoped that Naruto's crush on her had subsided over the three years that he had been away…but…

"Well, I'm not really sure how to do this," Naruto began shakily. "And any ways that I know seemed to immature to use on you. You're just so…cool and collected. And intimidating a lot of times."

Sakura cracked a smile. "I should hope so!" she said jokingly. "I try very hard to be intimidating, you know!"

Naruto didn't answer, and she felt a pickle of worry. _Oh, well. _She thought.

"Sakura-chan I love you!" Naruto exploded. Sakura cringed.

"Naruto, do you even know what that word means?" Sakura asked seriously. She saw the hurt building in Naruto's eyes but she ignored it.

"I know what it means, because all I feel is love for you!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, I've always said this to you, and I'll say it again!" Sakura said. "I don't want to go out with you!"

"Why?" Naruto cried. "Is it because you still love that _Sasuke_?"

That hit a nerve. Sakura didn't feel like pouring out all her innermost feelings out to _Naruto._ Seriously, how ironic would that be? That boy only knew how to joke around. He couldn't be serious to save his life. A voice deep inside Sakura, much more secretive than Inner Sakura, whispered that her previous statement hadn't been all true. She ignored the voice decidedly, because she wasn't used to hearing it.

"I have always loved you Sakura! That Sasuke cares nothing about you. How can he make you happy?"

"And are you implying that you can make me happy?" Sakura asked coldly. "I'll admit, Naruto, I was a little caught off guard by you actually trying to make it seem formal in you asking me. But the answer will be the same as always."

"Just give me a chance!" Suddenly Naruto was at her side, his fingers brushing her cheeks. Sakura felt her stomach flip inside out.

"No, Naruto!" she shrieked.

"Sakura?" her mother called. "What's going on?"

Naruto looked at Sakura, pain in his blue eyes. "Fine, Sakura. If you are sure that's what you want."

"I've never been surer." Sakura said coldly. "See you around, Naruto."

Naruto leaped out of the window, and Sakura fled to her room. She crashed onto the bed, burying her face in her pillow. She knew she'd done nothing different than what she'd normally do. She had never liked Naruto! If she was so sure of herself, then why did she feel as if she had made the wrong decision?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hinata was sitting at a cute little café, sipping warm tea, and waiting for her friends. Tenten suggested the idea as a way to relax before the start of a new day—no special occasion, just for fun. Ino leaped at the idea, and well, everyone else just went along with it. Speaking of Ino…

"Hey, girlie, what's up?" Ino's cheerful voice rang out. Ino slipped into a chair beside Hinata. The waiter came and politely asked Ino for her order.

"Nonfat vanilla latte please," Ino replied automatically. When the waiter left, Ino turned and stared into Hinata's eyes. Hinata noticed a familiar and foreboding glint in Ino's green-blue eyes, and Hinata gulped.

"I-Ino? What is it?" Hinata whispered.

"I'll tell you a secret," Ino whispered back, though her whisper was as loud as Hinata's yell. "You can't breathe a word of this to anyone…but you'd better use it to your advantage! I can't be risking my life if you're gonna waste the intelligence…"

Hinata looked at her friend, frightened. "I don't know if I can," Hinata squeaked.

"Trust me, you'll love it," Ino smiled a bit elfishly. "You ready?"

Hinata didn't reply before Ino told her.

"Sakura rejected Naruto for real last night."

Hinata felt Ino's piercing gaze cut through her own swirling thoughts. _Why would she be telling me this?_

"O-oh," Hinata replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't be so slow to catch on," Ino scolded her loudly. Hinata noticed a few heads turn in the café. It was early in the morning and people were just getting their daily caffeine. Hinata felt heat rush to her cheeks.

"Ino, quiet down…" Hinata whispered.

"While Naruto is busy crying his eyes out over rejection, you'll be there to save him from a river of tears!" Ino smiled brightly. "He won't know what hit him, and he'll be forced to fall in love with you!"

Hinata looked at her friend with wide eyes. "I-I don't know!" she cried in a whisper.

"Hey, what's the secret?" a new voice asked. Hinata saw Tenten walk in, looking as fresh as a daisy, so to speak, though Tenten was not as gentle as one. She yanked the chair from under the table and practically fell into it.

"We were just waiting for you, Miss Socialite," Ino smiled, avoiding the question unnoticed.

"There's the real socialite," Tenten smiled, waving enthusiastically. "Hi, Sakura!"

The pink haired girl looked…horrible. There was no other word to describe it. Her hair seemed a little less lustrous, her eyes a little more dull. There was no happy color in her cheeks, and she looked just tired.

"Wow, don't you look gorgeous," Ino said sarcastically. Sakura's glare said _thanks a lot!_

"Well, I can't even stay that long anyway," Sakura said, turning to Tenten. "Sorry about that."

Tenten shrugged. "Oh well. At least you showed."

"Well, I have to go too," Ino said, getting up. She noticed the waiter just coming back with her drink. "I'll have that to go, please!" she said with a glamorous smile. The waiter looked a little miffed but went away again, probably for a disposable cup.

Tenten cocked her head at Hinata. "Well, do you want to hang around here, or start the day?" Hinata got up with Tenten. The girls left the café, and split up, to go about their daily routines.

Sakura walked quickly toward the Hokage's office. Ino's comment stung a little—not because she cared about Ino's opinion of her. But because if Ino mentioned it, then Sakura must have looked a little less than how she normally did. Sakura peered into a reflective store window. She didn't look as bad as Ino implied, but… She decided to take a break from her feelings. She hoped that immersing herself in work would do just that. She strode purposely towards the Hokage's building, anticipating on seeing her beloved mentor.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Naruto and Sasuke fell on the ground, panting and sweating. Another morning of training had passed, and it was quite satisfactory (to Naruto). Sasuke had known that something was distracting Naruto when the blonde had dodged a _Chidori_ without unleashing a _Rasengan_ to meet it. Sasuke had felt ripped off that Naruto's mind hadn't been on training alone. It was a waste of time for Sasuke to train with someone who's heart and mind wasn't in it. He would get to the bottom of this. He waited a few more minutes in silence. Well…almost silence. Naruto's loud raspy panting ruined it.

"Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke felt a little flash of victory in his chest. He would discover Naruto's distraction. Sasuke didn't answer, and just waited for Naruto to continue.

"Do you think I'm attractive girls?"

Sasuke snorted. Naruto was thinking about girls? He felt practically mortified that he should be one-upped by some girl. "No, of course, not, _baka_."

"Why?"

"Because you're _you_," Sasuke answered assuredly.

"Seriously, _teme_!" Naruto said. Sasuke glanced at his blonde friend quickly. Naruto's blue eyes were indeed dark (with worry?) Sasuke chuckled darkly. Of course girls would make Naruto lose his cool…not battling enemies of the village, or training to become Hokage, but girls.

"Seriously, _dobe_? Don't ask me. I'm not a girl."

Sasuke heard the grass rustle, as Naruto flipped over on his belly. "You got that right," Naruto said, laughter back in his voice.

"He, he, you can take me for ramen now!"

"Hinata, sweetie, are you ready?"

Hinata jolted at the sound of the earsplitting voice, trying to be sweet.

"C-coming!" Hinata cried in reply. Ino was waiting outside her house, and Hinata was going to accompany her to the Hokage's building. Hinata was sure she knew Ino had in store…the blonde ninja could be predictable. (Hinata guessed it had something to do with Naruto. She felt her heart do a little tap dance, and she opened the door to see Ino, smiling down at her.

"Hinata, what in the world are you doing?" Ino cried. Hinata looked at her friend, wide eyed, wondering what she had done wrong.

Ino dragged Hinata to her house, and got to work, pulling out makeup brushes, and other random cylinders that Hinata had had nothing to do with ever in her life.

"Don't worry about a thing," Ino said, her voice not as energetic as it usually was. In fact, it had taken on a more caring tone. "Your make up will have _your_ personality in it. As if I would dress you up like I would myself!"

In about fifteen minute's time, Ino stood back, admiring her handiwork. Hinata gazed into Ino's large dresser mirror, staring at the beautiful stranger looking back at her. This stranger had large lavender eyes, outlined with soft brown eyeliner, and light mascara lengthened her lashes. Light brown eyeshadow brought out her eyes, making them sparkle. Light pink dusted the girl's cheeks—not the embarrassing tomato red Hinata turned whenever she saw her crush. There was also clear lipgloss on her lips, not bringing attention to them (and by doing that, causing the eyes to draw towards them.)

"O-oh, thank you, Ino," Hinata whispered.

"No problem, hon," Ino said. "Now come on, we're getting late! I heard Tsunadae-sama is assigning Naruto a mission. We'll see if we can't arrange you to accompany him."

Hinata widened her eyes. A mission? With Naruto?

"Wouldn't the Hokage-sama just assign Sasuke or Sakura to go with him?" Hinata asked quietly, as they walked out onto the street. Hinata noticed random passersby eyeing her with new interest. She felt a blush coming up, but brought her gaze strictly forward. She couldn't ruin the look of Ino's make up with her hideous blushing. At least she knew the make up was working…right?

"Sakura's a medic ninja now," Ino said, stating a fact that everyone knew well enough. "She may be needed for more important missions."

"How do you know Naruto won't be getting an important mission now?" Hinata asked, curious.

Ino smirked (as kindly as one could smirk) at Hinata. "Yeah, Naruto's a pretty strong ninja," Ino said, "but not everyone idolizes him as much as you do."

Hinata did blush a little at that. Ino patted Hinata's hand reassuringly. "If Naruto won't notice you for the cute, innocent babe you are, then he'll definitely notice you for the fierce ninja you are!"

Hinata looked at Ino, a mixture of thrill and despair. Ninja! Why hadn't anyone thought of that before? All Naruto loved was training to be a better ninja and Sakura (Hinata decided to push the pink haired girl to the back of her line of thoughts.) If she could prove herself a great ninja to Naruto, he would like to spend more time with her, maybe training! The despair came in when the thought dawned on her that she would actually have to be a good ninja… How could she? She was not brave or fierce…she was timid and shy. Sakura was brave and fierce. She was even a medic ninja, which took a lot of skill and determination! Naruto would only spend time training with Sasuke….Naruto himself was a great ninja (no matter what Ino said) and Sasuke was the only one who could match him…

"Listen!" Ino whispered. Hinata looked at Ino in fright. They were outside the Hokage-sama's door, and Ino suggested that they listen in on the conversation!

"How do you know Naruto's in there?" Hinata cried (in a whisper). "What if it's some other important business that's top secret!"

"There's nothing going on in the village!" Ino said, also whispering. "We at peace with everyone! And besides, I saw Naruto go in."

"Alone?" Hinata asked.

Ino nodded.

Hinata watched Ino as she listened. The blonde ninja's light green-blue eyes were narrowed in concentration. After several minutes, Ino widened her eyes, and leaped away, just as the door opened with a ferocious looking Naruto. He had a deep scowl on his face. He brushed past Hinata, about to storm out of the building.

"Oi, Naruto!" Tsunadae's voice boomed. "I see your teammate right here!"

"Sakura-chan and Sasuke aren't here," Naruto replied. Then he apparently saw Ino. "Hi, Ino. What are you doing here?"

"No, for your new mission!" Tsunadae roared. "Congradulations, Hinata," she said in a kinder voice. "You will accompany Naruto to the Village Hidden in the Rice. He will explain his mission to you. Now get out of my sight."

Hinata was stuttering incoherently, as Naruto stormed back towards the Hokage's door. "Oh, hey, Hinata. Didn't see you there," he said. He grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the Hokage's room. Hinata glanced at Ino to see her green eyes blazing with anger (towards Naruto.) All she could think about, though, was Naruto-kun holding her hand.

Hinata let Naruto drag her along, but as they were approaching the entrance to the village, Hinata had to speak up. She couldn't just barge off to the Village hidden in the Rice (whatever that was…)!

"N-n-n-n," Hinata tried.

Naruto looked at her, blue eyes flashing. "You tryin' to say something?" he asked her with a confused look. She nodded her head. "Well, then, spit it out," Naruto said.

Hinata took a deep breath and tried again. "Why are we going to the Village Hidden in the …Rice?"

"I can explain on the way." Naruto said, waving away her question. "I thought you had something important to say!"

Hinata felt as if she was kicked in the stomach. Already Naruto thought she was stupid, dumb, insolent…

"Something important like, having to stop for ramen," Naruto continued. Hinata looked up at him, with widened eyes.

"Can I get the backpack I always use for missions?" she whispered. "It's already packed, and it will only take a min—"

"Sure, sure," Naruto replied with a shrug. "Let's go."

By now, Naruto had dropped Hinata's hand, and already her feelings were conflicted. She was grateful because now she would finally be able to get the apple color off her face. But on the other hand, she missed the feel of Naruto's skin. Naruto stopped in front of her house, and Hinata was surprised to be walking alone when she continued up the path to the front door. She really wanted to turn around and ask Naruto why he wasn't coming with her. For some reason, her head was locked and wouldn't turn anywhere but foreword (in which it was already facing) And her voice was stuck in her throat, choking her, not wanting to come out.

A servant greeted her at the door.

"Tell my father that I have been assigned a mission in the Village hidden in the...Rice," Hinata whispered to the servant. She noticed Neji passing by to another room.

Something in Hinata's eyes made Neji stop. He knew that look. It was the look Hinata had when she wanted to tell someone something, but was too afraid to speak.

"Hello, Hinata," he greeted her. "A mission? What's it about?"

"N-Naruto-kun is going to explain on the way."

Neji felt himself stiffening. "_Naruto_?" he asked, deep distrust evident in his voice. "Why are you two going on a mission together?"

Hinata shook her head. "I don't know…"

"Shouldn't it have been him, Sakura and Sasuke?" Neji plowed on. "Or you Kiba, and Shino?"

Hinata looked at her cousin, her eyes worried. "I-I don't know, N-Neji…"

Neji stared at Hinata intently. He didn't like sending her off with that Naruto. Not one bit. Oh, yes, Naruto was a skilled ninja. A very skilled ninja indeed. (Sure…) But he was completely irresponsible. And only cared about ramen. Anyone completely entrusting anyone to him was completely bonkers.

"Go get your things," Neji ordered Hinata. She nodded obediently and scurried away. Neji waited paitently by the front door, with the intent of accompanying Hinata out (to the extent of the courtyard, at least) and giving that Naruto a piece of his mind.

Hinata returned within a few minutes, with her small, navy blue backpack. Neji turned up a corner of his mouth (to anyone else the smile would have been imperceptible.) But the smile was aimed at Hinata. And she was very observant, knowing all of Neji's trademark behaviors, and little mannerisms.

Neji opened the door and went outside first, hearing Hinata's shy, quiet breathes. He didn't see Naruto at first, and his mind immediately jumped to conclusions. _Of course he would run off! That is so like him! He probably just left Hinata to start the mission on his own! Even worse, he will totally neglect the mission and the Hokage will be in flames and he'll be completely nowhere to be found, and—_

In the middle of Neji's silent rant, a whoosh went by them, skidding to a halt. It was a blonde in an orange tracksuit. _Great…_ Neji thought sarcastically.

"Oh, hey, Neji," Naruto greeted him.

"So what is this mission of yours, anyway?" Neji began the questioning without delay.

Naruto shrugged. "Just some _border patrol _or something."

"We don't even share a border with the Hidden Rice Village."

Naruto gave him a wide eyed glance. "How do you know about our mission?" Neji didn't reply and Naruto went on with the next question. "You've heard of the Village Hidden in the Rice?"

Neji had to use every ounce of self control he had acquired throughout his years to stop himself from strangling Naruto on the spot, yelling _"You wanted to take my little cousin on a mission and you didn't even know the destination? How dare you, insolent fool of a…" _Instead he kept his naturally slightly scornful expression, and asked a simple question.

"Don't you think it would be better to learn more about the Village Hidden in the...Rice, or at least it's location, before going on a mission to, protect it, from what you say?"

Naruto looked at him, as if the revelation of the century had dawned upon him.

"Whoa. You're smart."

Again, Neji resisted the urge to kick that hideously dressed upstart of a ninja in the gut, but turned toward the house.

"I suppose you must be welcome into the house now," he muttered darkly (and very regretfully).

"Huh? Oh, great, thanks."

What Hinata saw in that idiot, Neji did not know. The three of them filed into the house, and into Neji's study, which was next door to Hinata's father's. Neji sat down on the ground, folding his legs, behind his table, while Hinata and Naruto sat, cross-legged as well, in front of it.

Neji took out a map from behind him, and spread it out. It was his favorite of all, the smooth feel of it, the dark lines dividing the Lands. He sent a glare at Naruto that said _Don't touch! _He wondered if the blonde had even noticed his glance. Naruto was staring wide eyed at the table.

"What?" Neji asked in annoyance.

"The Village hidden in the...Rice…" Naruto said ominously.

Neji pointed to a small shape in between the Lands of Stone, Grass, and Rain.

"It's so small!" Naruto cried out.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Hinata whispered. "Considering no one's even heard of it."

"Neji has," Naruto pointed out.

"But the common villager wouldn't," Neji agreed with his cousin. "The first thing to know about the Village Hidden in the Rice, is that it's not even a ninja village."

Naruto gawked. "Whaaaaat? But it's called Village Hidden in the—"

"I know," Neji said disdainfully. "But they have called themselves that—"

"To sound tough?" Naruto interrupted Neji in return.

Neji sighed inwardly. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, they don't have ninjas?" Naruto asked.

Neji shook his head.

"Which is why they need us."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Didn't the Hokage-sama tell you all of this?" he asked cynically.

Naruto shrugged. "Ehh…she was talking about something…but I wasn't really listening. Who wants to listen to old Grandma anyway?"

Neji had to check his anger again. "And you were going to explain the mission to Hinata on the way." He asked his voice steely.

Naruto shrugged again. "I _did_ know something," he said defensively. "We have to go to some nowhere-land and protect them with our epic ninja skills."

"And who are you protecting and from what?" Neji asked.

Narto didn't answer.

"My guess would be you are protecting the famers," Neji speculated. "Which is another thing you should know—the Hidden Rice Village is basically just farmers. They farm most of the Lands' rice."

Naruto locked his fingers together and stretched. "Ne, ne, this is getting boring. Can we leave now?"

"Did Hokage-sama give you something to give to their Beikage?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Eh? They have a top ninja—a kage?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "More like a top farmer. "

Naruto scoffed.

"My question." Neji reminded him. Naruto opened his mouth but Neji already knew what he was going to say. "Did the Hokage give you something to give to the Beikage."

"Ohhhh, right, yeah, I totally forgot about that," Naruto said, pulling a scroll out of his black-colored pack.

"Right, then," Neji said. He couldn't' think of anything else to say to them. He guessed that he couldn't delay Hinata's leaving any longer.

"Any questions?" he asked, mostly directed at Hinata. He knew Naruto wouldn't be able to think of anything. He wondered how much of Neji's speech actually got through to him. He was glad that at least Hinata was there to listen and soak up the information.

"Th-thank you Neji," Hinata whispered.

Neji felt a little burst of happiness in him. Hinata was so sweet. "No problem," he assured her.

Naruto leaped up. "All right! We can finally leave!"

Neji tried to stifle the worried feelings he had inside of him. He shouldn't be so soft on them! They could fend for themselves. What was he doing?

"Be careful," he muttered to Hinata. _Aeeeiihhhh! The world is going to end! _Neji couldn't stop himself before it just slipped out.

Hinata cheeks became rosy. "Okay," she replied.

Naruto leapt in the air. "LET'S GO!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sasuke was sitting around in a tree, in the clearing where he and Naruto usually trained at this time of day. He was still fuming about being left like cold turkey in the village while Naruto went off on a mission. Sure, the mission was completely a waste of time…but it got him out of the village! And how stupid for Naruto and Hinata to be completing the mission together. They were never together! For anything! It was Naruto, Sakura, and himself, or Hinata and the animal freaks, bug boy Shino and dog boy Kiba. This was totally bogus.

Why would he need the Byakugan anyway? Might as well have Neji. He was a better ninja. Or better yet the _sharingan_ which completely trumped all others! Come on, now!

Suddenly, in his mind's eye, he could see it. Naruto would come to his senses… (_wait…would that really happen?_ Sasuke thought. He went back to his complaining train of thoughts.) Anyway, Naruto would realize that training against the _sharingan_ was useless because pretty much no one besides Sasuke had it in the world (the other person was very unlikely to be faught) and he would want to train against the byakugan! Which meant training with Hinata. Which meant no more training with Sasuke. Which meant Hinata was _stealing_ Sasuke's best friend. And that did not sit too well with the dark haired boy. Naruto was _his _training partner, dang it, and that was final!

Sasuke narrowed his eye in deep concentration, the gears of his mind going into hyperactive mode. He had never ever dreamt of a scheme of this … _character_. It would definitely work…or at least cause some severe disruption, and Naruto would have to train out his anger. (Yes, haha! Which is exactly what Sasuke wanted). Sasuke grinned maliciously. Heh, heh, heh…. _This is going to be…really fun_.

Another ninja boy was alone hanging out in a tree, but it was his normal tree…as this was an activity you could sometimes find him doing. Kiba was hanging out in his same tree, again, though this time without a mission. He had heard from Ino (who else?) that Hinata had gone on a mission with Naruto. How completely objectable! He'd actually found out late, too—Naruto and Hinata had been gone for a few days. Finally, Akamaru was better, and the puppy (well not so puppy anymore) was lounging on the ground beneath Kiba's tree.

"Isn't that so unfair, Akamaru?" Kiba asked his cream colored dog.

The dog looked at him with its black eyes. _About Hinata? _he asked.

"Yeah," Kiba muttered, hanging upside down now. He put his hands in Akamaru's thick fun. "Why would the Hokage randomly deploy _them_ two on a mission? Why not me and Shino?"

_I suspect it's nothing_, Akamaru said. _She might have been the first Shinobi that the respectable Hokage saw. You know that everyone supposes the Hokage to be quite… unpredictable at times._

"Why are you so proper and kind?" Kiba joked with his best friend. Akamaru gave a bark of satisfaction. His master was in a seemingly better mood, though he still looked the same on the outside. Dogs were very in tune to their master's feelings, you know. He knew Kiba was disturbed about Hinata, his long time team mate. Akamaru deduced that there were some affection feelings involved in this situation. Akamaru himself had not been involved with those things. He had been so busy with missions with Kiba's squad that he hadn't really thought about finding a nice female dog. He hadn't minded at all, though. He would be ready whenever Kiba was.

Kiba suddenly noticed Sakura walking down the path. He quickly began doing crunches (still hanging upside down on the tree) while Akamaru continued to laze about.

"Hi, Kiba," Sakura greeted him.

He stopped, and flipped down from the tree. He smiled and nodded at Sakura. "What's up?" he asked.

"Not much, actually," Sakura said, sounding regretful. "I get the rest of the day off…" she started muttering incoherently (probably anger towards her mentor for leaving her off work). Kiba gave a dry cough.

Sakura giggled self consciously. "Oh…sorry… I got carried away there…"

"You sure did," Kiba agreed ardently. Sakura gave him a look, and he grinned.

"Are you going on any missions soon?" Sakura asked.

Kiba shrugged. "Nothing in the extremely near future," he replied. "As in today."

"Sucks," Sakura offered. Kiba didn't respond. Sakura took his leave and continued walking.

"Later," Kiba called after her.

Sakura waved. "Bye!"

She walked aimlessly through the village, not wanting to go home just yet (it made her feel like the day was over, even though she still had a few hours yet.) She chatted with Kurenai-sensei who had surprised her at the grocery store. Why Sakura was at the grocery store, she did not know. She was just walking aimlessly, like mentioned before. Suddenly, Sakura spotted a familiar dark haired brooding boy.

"Hey, Sasuke," Sakura greeted him. She expected to be ignored, but instead, he raised a palm in greeting.

"Hello, Sakura," he said in his deep husky voice (it still sent shivers down Sakura's spine).

"Where are you headed?" she asked good-naturedly.

_Funny you should ask _Sasuke thought, inwardly grinning crazily. "I'm just about to head out for tea. Would you like to join me?"

There he said it. Someone should have recorded it. Sasuke had _asked someone out,_ and that someone had been Sakura.

The pink haired girl didn't hide her surprise. Her mouth gaped open, pretty much to the ground. (Imagine her eyes changing into perfect white circles, and an angular anime mouth wide open). (Then return her back to normal.) "Why, Sasuke, I would," she smiled. "I'm just off work so—"

_Great, great, _Sasuke said. His plan was barreling into action. He didn't listen to Sakura's stupid ramblings. All he needed was her to be surprised—that made her more vulnerable. If something this drastic could change outside of her…something could change _inside_ of her too. At least…that was the mindset Sasuke needed her in. For his plan. _Heh, heh, heh…_

They walked into the tea house, and sat down. Sasuke ordered for them, and they sat in silence for a while. Sasuke was always tense, ready for battle. It was just in his nature. Sakura just felt nervous. She wasn't sure why, even though she _was_ on a "_date_" with Sasuke, which was a knock-you-over-backward big deal. A Sakura that she had previously known and been would have been dying with happiness right now. The Sakura at the present, was just content so share tea with a friend (she considered Sasuke a friend—whether the feelings were mutual, she could only hope.)

"So," Sasuke began, a bit awkwardly, but Sakura was relieved all the same. "Tell me. I haven't really been around you this much since the genin days."

Sakura felt a pleased at his inquiry. She figured she could tell him anything, and it would be safe (who was Sasuke going to have a heart-to-heart talk with? Not even she was having one right now. Sasuke just didn't have heart-to-heart conversations…) Sakura let herself ramble on, growing more and more pleased as she noticed Sasuke's dark eyes on her alone, listening intently. She spoke on, sipping tea in between, relaxing as she spoke. Well, it started out as relaxing. Then, it made Sakura's heart clench.

Sasuke didn't listen to a blasted word that foolish girl said. He unfortunately had to _hear _her words…He had to be on the constant alert for the N-word. It _would_ come up… He had this blind faith that it _would_. So he waited patiently. It was something he knew he had to do to reach his goal. And once he had a goal he could do anything to reach it. Even listen to ramblings with absolutely no use to him.

Once he had heard the word "Naruto" he had to proceed quickly. But carefully. He didn't deny Sakura's fast wit and ability to perceive fine details. But he didn't overlook the fact that, if steered in the right direction (if she wasn't already set on it) she could neglect all other options, blindly following her will. He wanted to let out an evil chuckle but he knew she shouldn't. He was doing this for _himself _firstly…it just so happened it _might_ help Naruto and Sakura as well. He hadn't really thought about _that_ part but he would deal with it later.

He was sure to bring in some key words when talking about Naruto: dependable. Passionate. Brave. He hadn't really tried his hand at cooking elaborate things, but he felt as if it compared to putting icing on a cake. Even if it actually had turned out horrible (Naruto) you could put globs of icing (Sasuke's words) and make it look appealing. _Very appealing._ This time, Sasuke indulged himself. _Heh, heh, heh…_

After Sakura and Sasuke finished, the dark haired boy walked her to her house. She complied in a subdued manner. She thanked him robotically and fled to her room, shutting herself in it. She felt as if the whole house could not contain her raging emotions. At first Sakura had felt happy to be having tea with Sasuke. Then he had said some pretty disturbing (to Sakura) things. Somehow the conversation had steered toward Naruto. Sakura suspected it was her own fault. Sasuke hadn't talked much throughout the whole thing, if at all, until Naruto was mentioned…As much as what he said unsettled Sakura, she blamed his talkativeness on the fact that they were best friend (him and Naruto). But still…

Now, she was really regretting sending Naruto away that one day. What was she thinking? She knew the truth about her feelings now. Oh, how she regretting not understanding herself _then_! Why did she always have to make the wrong decision! She felt as sure as heck _while_ she was sending Naruto away but now she was desperate to call him back, hug him, be close to him… She stayed on her bed, letting her thoughts swarm like armies of angry bees, then letting a hurricane of other thoughts wash them away, filling her mind, not wanting to drain out.

She was suddenly aware of wet spots on her pillow. Tears? She had been crying? She looked out her window. _Save me, Naruto._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Oi! Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke looked sharply behind him. Several days had gone by (with no correspondence from the two Rice-bound ninjas) and he was getting impatient. Racing toward the village entrance, towards him, was a blonde haired ninja, clad in an orange tracksuit, and a wild expression in his blue eyes. Sasuke let the ninja crash into him in a hug, then felt a strong force impact with his stomach. Stifling a wince, Sasuke punched Naruto right back, both of them leaping away from each other.

"It's good to see you, too," Naruto muttered with a good natured scowl. Hinata was now behind the blonde ninja, smiling shyly at him. Then she noticed Sasuke, cast her gaze down, then back to Naruto after nodded respectfully towards Sasuke. Sasuke returned her greeting with a like nod.

"HEY? What's up with the commotion? Oh. HEY, Naruto! You're back! HOW WAS IT?"

Naruto whipped around to see a tall, thin frame, a girl with long light blonde hair.

"Oh, hey, Ino!" Naruto said. "Yeah, I just got back from my mission! It was great! I—"

"I'm sure you're dying to tell us all about it," Ino grinned madly (a few streetlights could have been powered with that smile). "and I'll get everyone to meet and we can listen your story!"

"YAY! RAMEN!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air. He turned to Hinata, and with a much toned-down voice, said, "Come on, Hinata! Fancy a little ramen right now?"

Hinata's eyes glowed. "Sure," she replied with a soft grin.

Something in Naruto's voice irked Sasuke to a great extent. Did that _dobe_ pick up a new accent while in that Nowhere Village? Sasuke didn't really want to be in the company of so many weirdoes and _bakas_ (Kiba, Shino, Sakura…the list went on) but he did find that he was curious about Naruto's adventure. Why he cared, he wasn't so sure…Well he couldn't have devised his plan for nothing. He would have to follow through with it. Plus…Sakura would be there, right? She was on the A-List (meaning, _annoying_ list) so he would see the premiere of his plan in action.

"Grab a few minutes to get freshened up," Ino suggested, looking at Naruto and Hinata, then her eyes resting on Naruto. "You put up quite a stink."

Naruto turned his nose up in indifference.

"We'll meet in an hour," Ino said. "At Ichiraku's Ramen. We'll get a big booth for everyone. It will be so fun! See you there, Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke." Ino skipped away, and Naruto and Hinata disappeared too.

Sasuke noticed his gaze trailing after Ino, her long blonde ponytail swinging wildly. He was glad she wasn't desperately chasing him like she had when she was a genin. She and Sakura both seemed to have thrown away their crushed on him. He was _glad_. Sasuke swung by his and Naruto's training clearing, deciding to just hang out there. Some days, Sasuke felt like just sitting and looking around it, feeling nostalgic and sad, sometimes fiery anger. Other days he avoided it, to avoid those feelings. Finally, Naruto was back to train. They would go back to their old schedule and everything would be as it was. Sasuke hoped his words a few days earlier had stayed in Sakura's mind, growing, infecting, invading her mind like a virus. He hoped they clouded her vision, disabled her to see clearly. He knew that without him, Sakura would have stayed to her perfectly good senses and stuck with her decision. He had used his manipulative abilities to their maximum power (without using any _chakra_, of course, only his fine tuned wits) to twist Sakura around Naruto's little finger. He would see how well his planned worked out. Usually Sasuke would know the outcome ahead of time (if he was making the plan, why shouldn't he know the outcome? Only _bakas_ like Naruto make plans that turn out so unpredictable, the complete opposite of Naruto.)

Sasuke decided to start walking back, slowly, wasting enough precious time, to the Ramen House, and join Naruto's friends. His friends, too, he turned the thought over and over in his mind begrudgingly. No matter. Time to enjoy some of Naruto's favorite ramen.

Naruto walked into the Ramen House, to be greeted by Naruto's loud, harsh voice spinning an exciting tale of his and Hinata's mission. It hadn't been top secret, or anything stupid like that (why would a mission so useless be top secret? And what could that Nowhere Village do about it, if they decided to discuss it?) Sasuke pulled up a chair to the booth the group had chosen, sitting on the side opposite of Naruto. On Naruto's side, were (from the farthest to nearest) Hinata, Naruto, and Ino. On the opposite side, were Neji, Shino, and Kiba.

Naruto appeared to have just noticed his training partner arrive. "Oh, hey, Sasuke. Glad you could come," he said, in a plain voice.

"Go on!" Ino said. "Then what?"

Naruto looked at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Where was I?" he asked, tilting his head.

"You were surrounded by a bunch of unknown ninja," Ino supplied, her green eyes excited.

Naruto nodded surely, and began waving his hands everywhere (most dangerously) as he yelled out his words (some of them rather exaggerated, as Sasuke could guess).

"Then, Hinata came in, and man, it was amazing!" Naruto said, eyes blazing (and Hinata blushing). "She was just all _ka-pow! NO MERCY! HI-YAH!" _and it was SO COOL!"

Somehow, Sasuke could not imagine Hinata "going all" "KA-POW! HI-YAH!", as he eyed her critically. She was gazing at Naruto with the upmost admiration. Then, Naruto noticed Sakura and Lee coming through the door, and making their way to the table.

"HI, LEE!" Naruto greeted him with gusto. Then he nodded politely to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura-chan, what's up? How did you fare without me?" Sasuke noticed the joke was thrown in at the last minute, and not at all heart-felt. He knew his friends mannerisms pretty well. Could Naruto have added the last sentence in as a way of making it seem like a normal greeting? Would Naruto even go as far as to think that? Sasuke wondered if Hinata's influence was making him _smarter._ Then, Naruto continued the story, knocking over glasses of water onto Kiba and Neji. They glared at him, and if it had been anyone else, they would have gone up in flames on the spot.

"Watch it, idiot!" Kiba snarled fiercely at Naruto.

Hinata handed them napkins, with quivering apologies. Kiba took the paper from her greatfully, gazing at her.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, his voice gentle. "It was Naruto's fault!" it went back to its usual gruffness as he turned to glare at Naruto.

"Hey, hey, sorry," Naruto muttered. "Don't get all offended about it."

"How long have you guys been here?" Sakura asked. Her voice was drowned out by Lee's wholehearted apologies.

"I AM SO SORRY THAT I WAS NOT HERE ON TIME! MY YOUTHFUL TRAINING KEPT ME AWAY AND HAD I NOT SEEN THE MOST YOUTHFUL SAKURA PASSING BY I WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT YOUR YOUTHFUL MEETING! PLEASE FORGIVE MY YOUTHFUL SELF!"

"Kay, okay, calm down," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke held back a smirk. Naruto telling Lee to calm down?"

"We've been here for quite a while, sweetie," Ino said to Sakura, with a pointed politeness in her voice. "You missed the fashionably late mark."

Sakura obviously picked up on it (she was good at that kind of stuff) and shot her blonde friend a warning smile."

"Sit down, nonetheless," Ino invited her, unnecessarily because both she was already brining up a chair to sit beside opposite of Sasuke. Lee was jogging in place.

Naruto finished his stories, and by that time, the sun had gone down, and Teuchi had turned on the artificial lights. Shino could have been asleep (no one would know, since his high collar hid his mouth, and his small dark sunglasses hid his eyes.) Lee was still jogging, though Sasuke guessed he was as good as asleep on his feet. Ino had even toned down a little, a sure sign of either boredom, or weariness.

Naruto's stories could be boring (how exciting could even one such as Naruto make rice farmers?) but they had partaken in a few battles. Those bits were entertaining. Sasuke was surprised at the amount of trouble two Konoha ninjas could have gotten into, just dealing with Rice farmers. Sasuke returned to his home at the end of the day, anticipating the morning, when Naruto and he would train.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sasuke was up bright and early, as usual, and after a quick protein filled breakfast, he got ready to head over to his and Naruto's "personal" training corner in the forest. He stopped by Naruto's really sorry excuse for an apartment, and was anticipating the daily morning routine of waking up Naruto, and forcing him to get ready. Naruto was not a "morning person". Sasuke wasn't either. But he wasn't an "any-kind-of-day" person. He just went along, trying to ignore the things that irked him to great extents—though it didn't always work. That's why training with Naruto to almost death situations helped distract him enough for a while. Then they had to stop, because Naruto became hungry, or it was physically impossible to continue (and they would have actually died). Dying would have been very inconvenient. How can you train if you are dead? If you were dead, you wouldn't have a reason to train. Then Sasuke would kill himself all over again. So, during breaks from trainings, which were very few, Sasuke had to get back to reality again, and loathed every second of it. Or looked like he did, anyway.

Sasuke almost yelled in surprise at the sight he saw in Naruto's house. No, he usually did not have these moments. The very first time he had come to Naruto's house, he had been that surprised. You couldn't even see the floor under all the _crap _(not literally, thank goodness) and mold. Luckily, Naruto knew where the bathroom was, and how to use it. Unluckily, he didn't understand the concept of _taking out the trash_. Or _doing laundry_. If pigs thought they lived cleanly, they would think Naruto lived in a pig sty! So, of course, by now he was used to it. Sasuke didn't breathe the air in Naruto's room. Who knows what kind of unknown viruses were hanging out in Naruto's dump of a room. The reason Sasuke was surprised was not because of the mess (hello, was anyone paying attention? He was used to it by now). It wasn't even because it was remote, distantly related, fifty second cousin of clean. _No_. There is no word to describe the abnormality of Naruto in a clean room. If Naruto had a clean room, no one would be there to admire it, because the world would have already exploded.

No. Sasuke was surprised because Naruto was already awake and alert, blue eyes bright and laughing, and he _didn't_ smell like yesterday's ramen. If there was one other thing to know about Naruto aside from his living conditions, was his physical hygiene conditions. Naturally, someone with such abysmal cleanliness habits would not have any better self hygiene habits. Of course, Sasuke was sure Naruto took showers once in a while. He had to. But to be so fresh in the morning was something to be astounded at.

"Decided to come a bit closer to normal, eh, dobe?" Sasuke asked with one of his signature smirks. This one said, _wow, you are so lame that I'm hanging out with you for entertainment_.

"What?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "I've done nothing special."

Sasuke snorted, and returned Naruto's eye roll with one of his own. "Sure…."

"Well, anyway, why did you stop by?" Naurto asked with a bounce. "It's not like you're here to give me a present."

"Are you really so stupid?" Sasuke asked in disparagement. "Have you not been here for the past several _months_?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I have gone for a few weeks," Naruto said, with a thoughtful expression, completely with blue eyes looking upward to a corner, and an index finger on his chin. "I think I've been in the Rice Village."

_OH, MY GOSH! _Sasuke thought, aghast that he wasn't even a tad bit surprised. Yeah, Naruto was scatter-brained. He was the very _essence_ of empty-headedness. But that remark just now was kind of amusing.

"Well, anyway, I was just kidding by the way," Naruto interrupted himself, then continued in a flurry of words, "about the going away and stuff. Anyway, I'll see you later, Sasuke-teme, I have to go train with Hinata. Did you know I'm going work more on how to defeat the Byakugan? How cool is that? Well, gotta go, see ya!" With that Naruto leaped away ninja-style, leaving Sasuke staring dumbly through Naruto's window. A few seconds went by with Sasuke feeling the calming serenity of Naruto's red-hot energy leaking away from the air around him. Then a new red-hot feeling began rising inside Sasuke, till it boiled in his blood, and he could feel it pulsing through his veins. No one—and that meant _no one_—left Sasuke doing anything dumbly. In fact, no one left Sasuke unless he had dismissed him, internally to himself, or vocally to them. Sasuke never did anything dumb, on accident or because of someone trying to make him. It just didn't happen. And now somehow Naruto was blowing him off to train with some second rate Byakugan loser. _What the CRAP?_

Sasuke's face turned into a violent scowl. It would have shocked even a lion to death. What was this world coming to? Sasuke wasn't a very forgiving person. In fact he wasn't a very kind person either. He was solitary, silent, and indifferent. Some people might say he was heartless. But anyone who saw Sasuke with Naruto would see a whole new Sasuke. The differences were subtle yet obvious. Sasuke smirked more, rather than a set-in-stone scowl. He talked to Naruto, even if it was to say how much of a dobe he was. He allowed emotion into his heart, feeling the heat of battling a worthy opponent. So it wasn't to guess that maybe Sasuke would be _kind_ to Naruto and _forgive_ him if the blonde ninja trained with him that afternoon. To make up for the morning.

_I don't even need training._ Sasuke told himself. _I was just helping Naruto. If he's going to be ungrateful, then just let him see if I ever waste my time again! _No matter what Sasuke told himself, he still couldn't punch out the clawing feeling inside of him. He struggled against admitting what it was. It was similar to a feeling he'd had before. He recognized it. It was like different strains of viruses. Once you created a vaccine for the virus, it just mutated itself and you had to start all over again. His feeling was like a virus. It started out tiny, then multiplied itself till it took over Sasuke's entire body. Sasuke was vengefully abhorrent to this particular strain of virus. It was the virus of rejection. _Is this what losers feel like all the time? I never want to be a loser ever again._

Sakura found herself walking home from work alone again. Usually she would have been with Ino, or any of her other co-apprentices. Whenever she was alone, unwanted thoughts crammed into her head. Thoughts about a certain blonde ninja who was now fraternizing with someone else…

"Hey, Sakura."

Sakura gasped in surprise. She whipped around, to see Kiba jump down from a tree.

"What's up, Sakura?"

"Oh, Kiba," she laughed nervously. "Nothing much. What about you? Where's your team?" What Sakura really wanted to ask was, _Where is HInata_?

"Huh? You mean Shino and Hinata? Well, for both of them, I don't know," Kiba scowled, kicking an imaginary stone on the ground. "Not that _they_ ditched _me_. It was the other way around, make sure you know!" he broke off into incoherent muttering, then shook his head. Sakura was ready to say her goodbyes and get back to her house, but Kiba prolonged the conversation with an equally angering question. He asked her, "Where is your team—Sasuke and Naruto?"

Sakura met Kiba's slit black gaze with her own large green one. She craved the once-familiar spark that would rush through her veins every time she saw 'him'. Her spark for Sasuke had died down a while ago. She still thought of him as a friend, and she hoped he thought that of her too, but nothing more. Now, in the moment, she knew that she could never feel anything more for Kiba then a polite friendship between comrades. She was sure he felt the same way.

"Sasuke's probably training alone somewhere," Sakura said coolly. "Naruto's probably training with Hinata. They seem to train together a lot these days."

"Figures," Kiba said with a soft growl.

Sakura hoped he wasn't too angry. She didn't want the fun-loving Kiba to be brought down. Why would he care what Hinata did, anyway? Yeah, she knew she would be offended if Ino ditched her (hmm, maybe, like right now?). Maybe Kiba was feeling the same way towards Shino.

"Well, I'm sure Shino will turn up soon," Sakura said, hoping she didn't sound annoying—please forbid—motherly. "Maybe you can check his favorite hang-out places."

"I guess that's better than waiting for the two of them to show _their_ faces to _me_, huh?" Kiba asked quietly, with a smirk.

Sakura laughed, but it sounded hollow. She was painfully aware that the laugh could have been genuine. Then she would be able to think, "Wow, I haven't laughed in such a logn time! This feels good! Maybe I can forget about all those other things and start laughing again! Maybe I've been way to stressed out by things beyond my control." But of course it wasn't a genuine laugh, and now she was wallowing in her own distress. Had she offended Kiba further? Would he have even noticed the difference between a real laugh and a fake one? Were all these thoughts just useless and minuscule in importance?

"Yeah!"

Sakura whirled around, her heart speeding up again. Was she always going to be snuck up on because she was buried deep within her own thoughts, totally unaware of her surroundings? And who had the nerve to tell her that her own thoughts were useless? Why, she was going to pulverize that person….

Then her mind finally registered the voice. Raspy, loud, obnoxious….

"Naruto?" she called out, her voice not even sounding like her own. Did she even remember what her own voice sounded like? Or was she living in a constant state of detachment and reserve?

"You got that right!"

Anger kicked in Sakura's chest. Who was that idiot talking to? Not her she hoped. Then he would get another thing coming! He wouldn't know what hit him! Actually, he better know what _hit_ him. It's the only thing that _would_ hit him!

Then she saw Naruto walking out of the forest, looking the opposite way, down to his shoulder. She couldn't see who it was at first, but when Naruto threw back his head to let out a cackle of laughter, she saw that it was a girl. The maiden had flowing thick glossy black hair shining in the evening sun, eyes the shade of lavender, as vacant and beautiful as the twilight sky, and skin softer and paler than falling snow. Was Sakura delighted or in awe at the sight? Was she proud, joyful, or amused? No. She felt a dull, sullen anger rising up in her. She felt her face turn into a snarl. She could have heard Ino's voice in her head saying, "Now, darling, you know never to frown like that! It ruins your face forever! Wrinkles!" But right now her eyes zeroed in on a different girl, with a look of joyful innocence on her face, which Sakura was palpably determined to prove wrong. She wondered why her indomitable spirit wasn't completely slamming into them, knocking them down, with the force of a hurricane. She was sure they could feel it, from those several yards away. _See you soon, lovebirds. _


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Naruto went down the road with his swaggering gait, looking down to his right, and talking, all at the same time. Joining him on his jaunt was a girl, a head shorter than him, who had thick, shiny black hair, and large lavender eyes. She was smiling up at Naruto, and for some odd reason, he felt a strange giddiness as if he had accomplished something. Of course, it was true, that he had—he and Hinata had gone to the Village of the Rice and scouted everything out. There had been a few battles but it was nothing Naruto and Hinata couldn't handle. Especially with their awesome jutsus—combined! _Oh, yeah! _Naruto inwardly hollered. He wanted to punch his fist in the air but didn't want to hurt Hinata on accident in the process. His capricious movements were often made at the expense of others, but it wasn't as if Naruto was totally apathetic. He just got really _excited_ sometimes.

Somehow, he and Hinata were now talking about the possibility that Grandma Tsunadae would assign a follow-up mission to the Village of Rice. Of course it was a slightly intelligent and important conversation to hold—better than the topic Naruto knew that had started off with: ramen. Naruto made fun of Grandma Tsunadae but he knew she was a pretty darned good ninja. She wasn't Hokage for nothing. But of course, when he became Hokage, he would be better…

Naruto was now listening to Hinata speak. Her voice was soft, but she was giving her opinion determinedly. Naruto remember thinking that Hinata was really weird, and that he hadn't really wanted to go on the mission with her. But actually, he was glad Hinata had come. She was a really good ninja, even if she practically needed someone to cajole her into battling! But once she was in the zone, she was pretty beastly! And that was something, coming from the nine-tailed fox dude. Actually, it had taken a bit of candor from Naruto, to get Hinata to buck up a little. He hadn't remembered exactly what he said, but he knew it worked pretty well! And he wasn't used to designated, specific times for pep talks. Yeah, he could say some pretty awesome stuff (if he could say so himself, of what he said) but they were never forced or planned. They were just in the moment.

I could get used to working with Hinata, Naruto laughed to himself. She wasn't always censuring Naruto, she didn't go through the mission in total ascendancy (honestly, can you imagine?). Plus, she was really astute. Naruto was really impressed with that. Of course, all ninjas had to be, but just the fact that you never expect Hinata to talk, so that even if you could have figured it out yourself, just hearing it from her was a surprise. A well received surprise of course. He didn't want a stupid teammate.

In fact Naruto had thought nothing could alleviate the mission if Hinata was going to be on it, but he sure was wrong. Hinata was a great comrade.

"W-Would you go on the mission, if Tsunadae-sama assigned it to you?" Hinata was now asking him.

"Sure," Naruto said. "It's better than staying here bored all the time. Plus, do we really have a choice?"

Hinata giggled and Naruto grinned. "What 'bout you?"

Hinata looked as if she was thinking. "W-Well… w-we should go since we know better than others what was g-going on."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto agreed with a curt nod.

There was silence, then Hinata's voice again. "Oh…my house is here…"

Naruto looked up, and of course, the looming mansion was, uh, well, looming over them.

"Huh. You sure are right." Naruto said. "Well, bye, then."

"Th-thank you, N-Naruto," Hinata's voice faded as she got to his name. Naruto almost couldn't hear it.

"No problem, there," Naruto grinned. "See you soon!"

Hinata walked up the pathway, and the front door opened to her. Naruto saw a hand wave her in, then Hinata disappeared into the house. Naruto turned around and ninja-leaped all the way to his apartment. He went inside, still savoring the scent of Hinata in his nose, when many other unpleasant odors overpowered it. Naruto scowled. Girl smell was so much better than ….uh, something smell. Naruto almost didn't want to take off his sandals, his room was so dirty! Not that Naruto never noticed but usually he was too tired to care or slept outside under the stars. Why not when he could, you know? Naruto tiptoed his way to his closet, from which the entire contents fell onto him, causing him to fall to the floor. Dust clouds drifted around the room, and Naruto scratched his head. Hmmm….This could possibly take more than the blink of an eye.

Hinata's welcome home was not at all pleasant. At least by her standards. Her father had asked her where she had been.

"W-Walking h-home…" she had answered quietly.

And why so late at night, she had been asked.

"I-I was t-training…' Hinata had squeaked.

Why didn't you train in our courtyard, was the next question.

"I-I was training with N-Naruto…."

Oh, training with Naruto, have you, was the reply. And why were you training? With Naruto of all people? Your cousin if perfectly capable and would be a worthy opponent.

And of course, just then, Neji had to walk into the room with a nonchalant look on his face, which just augmented the fact that Hinata was already feeling so awful!

"Well, then," her father had boomed, "that is all swell and quite dandy but I would appreciate having you home tomorrow. A lot of paperwork just came in about the manufacturing, and it would be super to have your help."

"Y-yes father," Hinata replied automatically.

"You may go."

Hinata slunk out of the room, her eyes downcast. She didn't see Neji's hopeful glance, which of course, filled him with aversion—towards himself. Hinata quietly snuck upstairs, and took a long bubble bath. She loved the smells of the herbs and it was really relaxing. Hinata slipped into her bed, feeling peaceful and satisfied. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

The next day, Hinata woke up to find a glass of jasmine tea on her bedside table and a maid standing outside her door. She knew the maid was hiding out, outside her door, because as soon as Hinata rustled in her bed sheets, it signaled to the maid that Hinata was awake, and the maid poked her head inside.

The maid bowed. "You have a visitor, ma'am."

Hinata widened her eyes in surprise. _Oh, no! I'm not even ready yet!_

Had the maid seen the panic on Hinata's face? Hinata wondered that, because the maid had promptly added, "Please take your time, madam. Your visitor was in no rush. In fact she is conversing with your cousin and father."

Hinata widened her eyes in surprise. The men of her family were not the ones to chat idly with others…especially outside their family, and who have no real importance (to them at least). Hinata got up, and got ready, taking her usual time (which wasn't much in the first place). The maid led her downstairs, and took her to one of the lounging rooms. It was the simple one, with three cream colored chairs for herself, her father, and Neji, and two green chairs for the guests. There was a short-legged, dark-colored wooden table in the middle of the room, with a small lighter-colored wooden statue of a lion-dog in the middle. Her father and Neji were indeed sitting in their cream chairs, and Hinata saw a tall, rail-thin girl with a long blonde ponytail, with her bangs in front of her face, only pinned slightly to the side with a cross of purple bobby-pins. The girl had light green eyes, and a playful smile. She was wearing sleeveless purple crop top, with a purple skirt, and white leggings underneath. Hinata immediately recognized the blonde ninja: Ino! Hinata was desparately happy that Ino had word a spring green tank under her crop-top. Last time Ino had showed up at Hinata's house, Hinata hadn't been so lucky, and her father had lectured _her_ about the right kind of friends to have. Hinata smiled shyly at her brazen friend, who finished her sentence quickly, then grinned back.

_Wait, Ino, wait… _Hinata silently ordered her blonde friend.

"Good morning, Hinata," her father greeted her first. Hinata silently cheered for Ino. Her father was also big on respect—and not just any kind of respect. He was big on _his_ ideas of it. And him greeting his own daughter first was one of the many rules that Hinata had learned to live with and never complained about. She just felt sad when her father bashed Ino on her "debasing mannerisms" (quote, Hinata's father). Hinata knew Ino meant well and Ino was all about good fun—and most of all, Ino was not a bad person! She just came off that way, sometimes…

Neji nodded, to her, then finally, Ino proceeding with her cooing hello, which her father patiently allowed, but all the while, was shooting deriding looks at the blonde ninja.

"Your friend had invited you to have breakfast with them," her father said in his antiquated way. "I for one would have appreciated any previous mention of this engagement, but for the matter, you may go."

Hinata noticed Ino holding back a loud cheer. Hinata bowed. "Th-Thank you, father," she said quietly. Her father nodded, dismissing her. He did not acknowledge Ino. Hinata sighed inwardly. Ino was not yet condoned. Neji followed Ino and Hinata to the door, while Hinata's father presumably returned to his study. Hinata slipped into her sandals, and bid Neji a farewell.

"See you when you come home," Neji said quietly.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "Okay…" she whispered.

Neji watched them walk down the pathway and onto the main road till he could not see them anymore. He closed the door then, walked back to his uncle's study. He knocked, and his uncle called him in.

Uncle Hyuga watched Neji in a scrutinizing way as he entered the room, and waited for further instructions. Pale eyes met pale eyes in a silent battle neither wished to recognize.

"Please be seated," Neji's uncle finally said.

"Thank you." Neji folded his legs underneath him, and sat straight, waiting to hear what his uncle had to say.

"As you should know, I have much to look after about our manufacturing plans—materials, machines, plants, and the like."

_Okay_…. Neji thought. This wasn't necessarily new. Sometimes, but only rarely, did his Uncle ask Neji for help with anything related to his company. In fact, he only ordered Neji to do tedious things that he didn't want the servants looking at. (On the other hand, Neji's uncle was kind to the servants, they had comfortable living quarters, and they were reasonable paid. They all seemed to like Uncle Hyuga, as well as adore and respect Hinata.) The chores Neji was given were things like organizing, alphabetizing, and addressing letters.

"I may have to go on a trip to oversee everything. And I would like to have some papers to take with me when I go. Therefore, I would like to have everything done before I leave, hence I have requested your and Hinata's help."

"Yes, Uncle, of course," Neji replied respectfully. "I would be honored to help you. May I ask when you will leave?"

"I plan for a week from today, if not sooner."

"Forgive me, but have you told Hinata?" Neji asked. He didn't want to question his Uncle (Neji was the one who had everything to be grateful for, towards his Uncle) but his care for Hinata was more than his fear and respect for his Uncle. Hinata did love her father very much, more than Neji did, and she would miss him. Neji did love Hinata's father as any nephew would love his uncle but obviously a daughter's love for her father surpassed that.

"I have only mentioned my plans to you, today," Uncle Hyuga said gruffly. "I was planning on telling both of you, but that Yamanaka girl showed up."

_I thought you liked Yamanaka_, Neji wanted to say, referring to Ino's father of course, but decided it was unnecessary. Why waste time? He also noticed the aversion in his uncle's voice.

"Here, you may take this," his uncle said, handing Neji a stack of thick folders. Even someone as strong as Neji was surprised at the weight of the stack. Not that it was especially heavy, but the fact that it was papers and it was that weight, surprised Neji.

"You may go."

Neji stood up and bowed to his uncle. He closed the study room door behind him, then proceeded to his own study room. Hinata had her own room too, though she hardly ever used it. She preferred sitting in the small landing space, at the end of the hall; it had a large window, covering almost the entire wall (it was only a few feet wide and tall), and had short small round table, for her to work on what it was she wanted to do, and a soft dried grass mat, made specially for Hinata. Of course, all of the mats the Hyuga family sat on were special-made, but Hinata's were by far the most intricate, even surpassing Uncle Hyuga's own. Neji sat down at his lighter-colored wooden table, stationed in front of a window, and opened one of the folders. _This is going to be a long day…_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"This is going to be an amazing day!" Ino Yamanaka cheered loudly in the coffee shop, and every person there turned and stared at the tall, thin ninja. She, of course, didn't care. In fact, she used the opportunity to toss her long white-blonde ponytail over her shoulder, and prop her elbows up on the table. "We're eating breakfast together, and it's at this amazing café!"

"You always eat at this café…" Tenten said with a sigh. As much as Tenten was tom-boyish, and tough, she wouldn't turn down some chow! Plus, she always liked spending time with her girl friends.

They continued eating, or rather, it was more like daintily nibbling on fruit bread, and sipping a light tea (though, it was coffee for Ino). As they were doing so, Hinata couldn't stop her mind from wandering to the Certain Blonde Haired Ninja. (You know, the one that everyone knows who you're talking about, when you mention "certain blonde haired ninja" all in the same sentence.) She imagined him and her eating together at this very café, spending time together, Naruto suddenly becoming captivated by something about Hinata to which he couldn't look away. Of course, Hinata knew that was just a _fantasy_. Naruto may be talking to her now but he sure wasn't eating with anyone else at any place other than Ichiraku Ramen.

"So, anything interesting happen in the past few days?" Tenten asked, pulling Hinata (reluctantly) out of her thoughts. "Some movie stars came to town…the world exploded…" At first, Hinata hadn't been sure if Tenten was being sarcastic or not, but now she knew…

Ino looked a little disgruntled for a second, and Hinata knew it was because Ino didn't have anything to say about herself. She knew how much Ino hated not having any news.

"Not from me," Hinata said. "What about you, Tenten?"

"Same," Tenten replied. "Everything's been really slow lately."

"Not really," Ino said. "I heard that Lady Hokage has been giving a few missions out."

"To who, the Genins?" Tenten snorted. "_We_ all need some new missions to spice up our lives."

"Do you want to go on a Genin mission?" Ino asked, with an arched eyebrow. "You could do five in your sleep—in one night! Maybe there's just not enough trouble to send out Chunins."

"But it's not bad if there's not trouble," Hinata said. "Ninjas have to be ready if there's trouble, but we don't have to go looking for it."

"But it's fun to, isn't it?" Tenten said, taking on a philosophical look.

"Yeah, that's real good advice," Ino said cynically, then exchanging grins with Tenten. "Besides," Ino added, "who wants to do all that paperwork we get after missions? It's horrible!"

"It's not that bad," Hinata replied with a smile. Then it faded as something crawled its way into her mind, almost as if it was reluctant. "G-girls!" Hinata whispered in fright. Ino and Tenten looks at Hinata in confusion. "Paperwork! Naruto and I still haven't even started anything!" She even remembered picking up the papers after they had reported initially to the Hokage, but she never actually completed them.

"Hinata!" Ino cried in mock dismay, to which Hinata shrunk back in mock fear. "How could you of all people be so irresponsible?"

"Oh, Ino, how ironic this is," Tenten smiled. "Well, maybe the Hokage's too busy with the other paperwork from the other missions she apparently issued."

"True that," Ino said. "Either way, you'd better hurry up. The Hokage isn't going to be distracted forever, and you know what she's like when she's angry…"

Actually Hinata didn't. But she'd rather not know. She heard it was horrifyingly scary. "Do you think Naruto would want to help me?" Hinata asked.

"Why do you need help with that?" Tenten asked. "You could do it all on your own! Asking Naruto to help would just slow you down!"

Ino elbowed Tenten in the side. "Why, Hinata, you are starting to finally learn!" Ino nodded proudly. "Sneaky, sneaky! Who would have thought? Anything to spend more time with that crazy ninja…"

Hinata blushed furiously. Oh, why had she opened her big mouth? Now Ino and Tenten would laugh at her and would never let her live it down…Oh, how horrible…She fumbled with her fingers, and her gaze was glued to the white tile floor.

"I…I…I…"

"_Crazy_ ninja?" Tenten asked, ignoring Hinata's attempts at speech. "He's a lunatic!"

"Only Hinata would be nice enough to make Naruto learn to do paperwork," Ino smiled lovingly at Hinata. Hinata was about to open her mouth to say something else, but of course, couldn't get it out.

"Or maybe Hinata's crazier than Naruto for offering," Tenten suggested with a sly grin. She patted Hinata on the back, and jumped up. "See you later, sister! I'm going to go find a mission to complete!"

"Tata, Tenten!" Ino called. She turned back to Hinata. "Are you ready to leave?"

Hinata nodded. They both stood up, and bid each other farewell.

"If I see Naruto, I'll tell him all about your plans!" Ino said, smiling slyly. Hinata felt her blush surge back, and widened her eyes at Ino. The very mention of his name did this to her. She was mad at herself for it.

"What? You don't want me to?" Ino pulled on an offended look.

"N-no, please, I-Ino, I-I didn't m-mean i-it…" Hinata squeaked.

Ino laughed. "I'm so sadistic. I love you, Hinata, you silly girl. Don't worry about it. You do want me to tell him, don't you?"

Hinata nodded without a word.

"Good," Ino grinned. "Tata!"

Ino and Hinata left the café, and Hinata headed towards the Hokage's building. She had to go there to pick up the Mission Report forms. Hopefully she could get in and sneak out without the Hokage noticing her, and stopping her to ask questions. Hinata should be able to do it, right? She's a ninja for goodness sakes! But the Hokage was… the _Hokage_. Hinata went through various plans in her mind, seriously and deliberately, trying to figure out what to do, and not thinking about the future which held seeing _him_ very soon. Really, Hinata often times confused herself! She wanted Naruto to notice her yet she was always embarrassed when he was there…Which is what she was trying to fix anyway. So far, she wasn't really sure if she was making progress.

She made it to the Hokage's building….finally…and used her Practically Invisible powers to get inside. She snuck down the hallways, melting into the background. The few people that walked down the hallways didn't notice her. She had seen them around many times, but hadn't actually talked to them, and didn't know them very well at all. She actually saw Kakashi Sensei walking down the hall, but he was so immersed in a book that he hadn't noticed Hinata. His spiky gray hair and navy mask had been just like Hinata remembered. She picked up the packet, and walked extremely quickly (but without running) back outside, only to almost bump into a ninja wearing bright orange sweatpants, which, if thought about, would make it really hard to miss that particular person…

"Oi, Hinata, what's up?" the deep, raspy voice, belonging to that particular person in the orange pants, asked.

Hinata felt a squeak about to escape her. "E-heh, nothing…"

Naruto narrowed one eye. "Really?" he asked. "Ino told me that we were going to finish that paperwork about our mission. Remember that mission we did back during the Ice Age? I completely forgot about the paperwork part too!"

"I-Imagine that," Hinata said. Naruto glanced at her in surprise, but the look passed quickly. It was replaced by the Signature Laughter Look. Hinata felt herself being lifted up in happiness. She had made Naruto smile!

"Aaaaaaand guess what?" Naruto sang. "I brought a _pen_! I found it." He brought out a fairly normal, small black pen with a long cap, and a gold rim around the top of the cap, and the bottom of them pen.

"Th-thank y-you, N-N-Naruto," Hinata felt her pitch rising to almost nothing. "N-N-Never know w-when we'll n-need one o-of those."

Naruto snorted again. _Two points!_ Hinata imagined Tenten screaming in her head. Not that Tenten would even care about this conversation. She would take one glance over here (if even) and then speed away on some highly important business.

Naruto took a longer glance at Hinata (longer than she was used to), and she wondered if it was possible to blush even more than she was right now. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to find out.

"If you didn't have anything else in mind," Naruto began, in a totally different tone from before, (this one a more serious, nice one, which made Hinata's heart pound like a drum), "I was thinking we could just finish those papers outside somewhere. Don't you like fresh air?"

"Y-Yes," Hinata replied. "Very much."

"Come on, then!" Naruto said, with renewed enthusiasm. "I know a great place! No one will bother us there!" Then he widened his eyes a little, then added quickly, "Let's go!"

He sped away at a fast pace Hinata wasn't expected. She ninja-leaped after him, giddy that Naruto was willing to finish up the papers, and also happy that she was actually finishing the papers. She had given herself quite a scare about forgetting those… Naruto led her to the outskirts of the forest. The trees were all pretty much in a line, but Naruto stopped at one place where a large, short stump was, and a radius of a few feet of clear ground surrounded it.

"Here it is," Naruto said. "Right in the middle of nature."

"Not r-really in the middle," Hinata said, "but it's still good. Th-Thank you, N-Naruto…"

"Don't mention it," he muttered, glancing to the side. He jumped a little, then turned back to Hinata. "Okay, let's start!" he said.

Hinata sat down at the stump, stacked the papers together, making the edges even, and then put the papers on it. "Okay…" she whispered. "The m-m-mission?"

"Investigate raiders in the Village Hidden in the Rice," Naruto replied promptly.

"Y-yes, that's all the Lady Hokage told us to do," Hinata agreed. She wrote Naruto's words down carefully.

Naruto waited patiently for Hinata to finish the word _Hidden. _"Why can't I write?" Naruto asked. "You are such a slow writer!"

"O-oh….okay…" Hinata said, putting the pen down. _Oh. Naruto wanted to write._ She thought, a little frightened. How was she supposed to know that? Her byakugan could see chakra, not thoughts. Would he hate her now? She didn't mean to be a slow writer…. She noticed Naruto's inquisitive blue gaze on her, and she felt her breath stop. Why was he looking at her like that? What was he trying to say?

"You can finish now," Naruto grumbled. _Oh_. Hinata wrote as quickly as she could.

"Was the mission completed?" Naruto read out loud, taking the pen from Hinata's hand. "Yeah, duh!"

"W-w-w-wait!" Hinata squeaked. Naruto looked at her again, which made her almost forget what she was going to say. "Are y-y-y-you s-sure?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow but seemed to think for a minute. "Well…we don't know who the raiders are…"

"W-w-we only f-f-fought them off f-for a while." Hinata whispered. "W-we don't know if they are actually g-gone."

"So….no?" Naruto asked, looking a little sad.

"R-right," Hinata whispered. "D-Don't you think the Lady Hokage should assign a f-follow-up mission?"

"I guess…" Naruto relied noncommittally.

"Y-you want to f-finish what you st-start, r-right?"

"Yeah!" Naruto replied, now with conviction. "A ninja shouldn't just do half the work." He wrote down "No" instead. The next question asked "If no, explain."

"So, what you just said," Naruto said, referring to that question. "I guess you can write…you have better handwriting…."

Hinata looked up and Naruto smiled at her. This caused her to blush of course, but she managed a shy grin back. This seemed to make Naruto happy. "Okay, write!" he encouraged her. She nodded, and penned the answer.

They went through the papers quickly. As they reached the end, both of them felt a pang of regret that their writing time together would soon be over.

"Is that all?" Hinata asked. "We should write more details."

"Huh? Details?" Naruto asked. "Why?"

"It looks good." Hinata replied simply.

"I think we put enough details in….Grandma might get mad if you write too much…It's more work, you know."

_Good point_, Hinata thought. Okay, then. She signed her name. _Hyuuga Hinata, _and was about to start Naruto's.

"I can!" Naruto muttered, pulling the pencil out of her hands.

"Okay!" Hinata said, a little louder then she intended (which of course for Hinata was just a normal voice). Naruto glanced at her in almost-surprise and penned his name.

"We're done," Hinata said, feeling satisfying.

"Hm." Was all Naruto said. "Who knew paperwork could be this bearable? Thanks, Hinata."

Hinata blushed furiously again. "W-why are you thanking me…" she whispered under her breath. Naruto appeared to not have heard, because he stretched, and got up. He put his hand back down, and Hinata just stared at it. _What…. _A few more seconds passed, and Naruto took back his hand jerkily. He looked around the forest, anywhere but Hinata. Suddenly the idea fell into Hinata's head, weighing as much as a tree trunk falling on her head. _He was going to help me up…_. She went into a frenzy of thoughts whirling around quicker than she could decipher them. She stood up shakily, and didn't look at Naruto.

"Well, I guess we can head ba—" Naruto was saying, before he turned to look at Hinata. "You okay, there?" he asked sounding a little worried. "You look really dizzy…"

"Huh? No…I'm fine…."

Naruto shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say…"

"We should drop the papers off right away," Hinata said, changing the subject to a more decisive one.

"Okay, I'll do it." Naruto said, reaching for the papers.

Hinata held onto them. "We can go together," she whispered.

Naruto arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Kay..."

They walked on, the warm afternoon sun smiling down on them. Hinata wondered whether it was just the sun warming her, or if it was also her happiness.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Naruto was jumping around on the rooftops of Konoha, his heart beating wildly in excitement. He was racing Kiba and they both knew they were inconveniencing many people with their pastimes. Kiba was on the row of buildings across from Naruto and they were neck and neck. The wind flew through Naruto's thick blonde hair, causing it to rustle dramatically. Naruto ran his hand through his hair for further effect.

"Show off!" Kiba called from across the road.

"Heh heh, look who's talking!" Naruto replied back, adding in a sudden burst of speed to get an inch ahead of Kiba.

"Oh, yeah? Well, let's play that way," Kiba said with a feral smile. They both sprang higher and farther than any sane ninja should, pushing the limits of physics to even greater tests than just their average villager hair (for example, Kakashi).

"Hey, Naruto!" a girl's voice said.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Naruto yelled so loudly that the noise alone should have blown over the girl, but instead, he crashed into her, and they both fell from the rooftops.

"Ino!" Kiba cried, his black slitted eyes filled with worry. He leapt down from the roof he was on. "You okay?"

"Yeah….I'm fine….." Naruto grumbled, sitting up.

"Uh, hello? He was talking to me!" Ino cried from underneath Naruto. "Get off!"

Naruto looked down in surprise. "Oh. Yeah. Sure." He got up, and Ino followed up, dusting herself off, stretching, and testing her limbs.

"You okay?" Kiba asked again.

Ino looked at him with pride in her eyes. "Why, thank you, Kiba, I am," she replied deliberately. "What a gentleman!"

"Haha, Kiba? Hahahaha!" Naruto laughed, and Kiba snorted at Naruto, like, _You wish you were me._

Ino turned back to Naruto, obviously forgiving him because of the task she had given herself. "Well, you better be practicin' _your_ gentleman skills!" Ino said to Naruto. "Hinata's wanting you to help her finish off that paperwork that you totally forgot about!"

Naruto gave her a confused look.

"Not that it was any surprise that you forgot," Ino said, sneaking in a snarky comment.

"Well, she's going to the Hokage's building to pick up those papers," Ino said, purposely sounding as if she didn't care what happened. "You can go..if you want… Not my problem… Though she did ask me to tell you… Oh, well. Later!"

She leapt away, only to be hiding behind the next corner, still watching the boys. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see them perfectly.

"Wow, you still didn't finish the papers?" Kiba asked, with a mocking look.

"As if you like doing paperwork," Naruto grumbled.

"True that, dude. Sucks for you."

"Well, at least I'm getting help," Naruto said. "And Hinata's really smart! So, HA!"

Kiba shot Naruto a death glare. "Oh, so you've gotten Hinata to help you now, huh?"

Naruto returned Kiba's stare with an arched eyebrow. "What? No…"

"Well, you'd better get going then," Kiba's mouth twisted into a snarl. "Don't want to keep poor Hinata waiting, now do we?"

"No siree, bub," Naruto replied, not oblivious to Kiba's change in tone, but choosing to appear so.

As Naruto turned to ninja-leap away, Kiba called after him, "By the way. I win by default. You forfeited before we finished, so, later, _loser_!"

Naruto wanted to whip around and punch Kiba in the face and demand a rematch but his thoughts were occupied with something else. He reached the Hokage's building, and scanned around for a girl with long, glossy black hair, and light colored clothes. He spotted the girl and ninja-leaped right in front of her. She almost bumped into him, and looked really flustered.

"Oi, Hinata, what's up?" Naruto asked, his voice catching in his throat. What was wrong with him? Maybe he was getting sick. He'd have to take it easy for a while…That meant postponing the rematch with Kiba…

"E-heh, nothing…" came the reply from Hinata.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. What? But… "Really?" Naruto asked, making sure. "Ino told me that we were going to finish that paperwork about our mission. Remember that mission we did back during the Ice Age? I completely forgot about that paperwork part, too!"

"Imagine that," Hinata whispered, but loudly enough for Naruto to hear.

Naruto widened his eyes. Sarcasm…from Hinata! Naruto gazed at Hinata's large lavender eyes, always alert, and almost as if she were constantly afraid of something. What was she afraid of? Naruto found himself wondering that sometimes, when he was thinking about her. Was she even afraid of something? Could he help? Then Naruto felt like laughing. Humor! From Hinata? Awesome! Funny people were always good people. Usually. Unless they were evil funny….

"Aaaand guess what?" Naruto asked, trying to be funny by acting like a little kid. "I brought a pen! I found it." He dug in his pocket for a moment, panic rising inside him for a second. Did he have it? That whole show would have been for nothing if he forgot it! _How lame…Oh, wait! Whew! _He found it.

"Thank you, Naruto…Never know when we'll need one of those."

Naruto looked at her longer this time. Sarcasm, again. She thought he was just stupid, didn't she? Naruto wanted to curse. He wasn't stupid! He certainly didn't want Hinata thinking that he was useless. He was a heck of a ninja! But did she know that? She usually spent time fainting around him. And if she fainted then she couldn't see how awesome he really was…And he was sure that he wasn't just some chump-ninja. Maybe he needed to stop acting stupid all the time… Not that he really cared about impressions…he just gave off the most natural one…but…for some reason being around Hinata called for something else. He saw Hinata blushing again, and for the first time, noticed it as cute, and not weird. _What? What in the world…Cute?_ Naruto couldn't even think for a minute, then decided that he had to say something or it would be even more weird.

"If you don't have anything else in mind," Naruto began, going back to the point, trying to show Hinata that he actually did care about stuff, "I was thinking we could just finish those papers outside somewhere. Don't you like fresh air?"

_Don't you like fresh air? Lame! What the heck? _What was he trying to do_….Just act natural!_ Then he realized that natural was not even doing paperwork…Sigh. He needed to change natural, then.

"Yes, very much."

_Okay, then. Stop fooling around. It's fine! Maybe she thought I was funny. _"Cool! I know a great place! No one will bother us there!" Whoa. Wait. Why did he ask that? Did she think that was weird? Why would it matter if any one bothered them…maybe it was good if someone bothered them…oh, what was he thinking? If anyone bothered them it would break their concentration! It was good! Ahhh! "Let's go!" Naruto added, trying to cover up the silence that had lapsed. He shot off, not looking back to see if Hinata was following. He took some deep breathes. Okay, what was going on? He was acting normal, and yet he was questioning his every move! That wasn't good in battle (bygones are bygones) and that wasn't really beneficial here, either! It was giving him a headache…and before they even started writing, too!

Naruto wasn't actually sure where he was going…he had tons of places he liked to hang out, but none of them were any more special that the last. He realized he was already at the outskirts of the city, and a snap decision came to him. Luckily, he was so good at those. He eventually reached a small clearing, with a short, stubby tree stump—perfect for writing on.

He glanced at Hinata to check her reaction. She was looking around, but Naruto wasn't sure whether it was just curiosity, or if it was disapproval. "Here it is!" Naruto said unnecessarily. "Right in the middle of nature."

"Maybe not the middle," Hinata whispered, to which Naruto inwardly sighed. He hadn't remembered Hinata as being so…difficult. Well, it wouldn't bother him! (Or would it?) "But it's still good," Hinata said quickly afterwards. "Thank you Naruto."

"Don't mention it," Naruto muttered, feeling totally let down. Well, maybe he was the one letting Hinata down. Hinata's compliment had seemed forced, which could only mean that Hinata thought the opposite, right? Naruto didn't want to think about those things. They were sure to give him a headache. He tried to avoid those. They weren't fun. He felt Hinata's gaze on him, and he jumped a little. "Okay, let's start!" Naruto said, fazed.

"Okay," Hinata whispered. She sat down at the tree stump, and stacked the papers together. Naruto sat down beside Hinata, looking over her writing hand. "The mission?" Hinata asked.

"Investigate raiders in the Village Hidden in the Rice," Naruto replied promptly. Easy, peasy.

"Y-yes, that's all the Lady Hokage told us to do," Hinata agreed. She wrote Naruto's words down carefully. Naruto marveled at Hinata's perfect handwriting. He also felt impatient that she was taking forever.

Naruto waited patiently for Hinata to finish the word _Hidden. _"Why can't I write?" Naruto asked. "You are such a slow writer!"

"O-oh….okay…" Hinata said, putting the pen down. _Oh. Wait._ He had hurt her feelings. _Ugh! How totally untactful. _But since when was Naruto the expert on tact? _Oh, man_. Naruto looked at Hinata with a little worry. Naruto tried to tell her sorry with his eyes but it probably didn't working. She looked even more frazzled now.

"You can finish now," Naruto grumbled. He felt awful, yes, but it was in the past. He couldn't take it back.

"Was the mission completed?" Naruto read out loud, taking the pen from Hinata's hand. Her skin was soft and warm to the touch, and sent a spark up Naruto's arm. He wanted to shiver but it wasn't even cold outside. "Yeah, duh!" Naruto cried, answering the paper's question.

"W-w-w-wait!" Hinata squeaked. Naruto looked at her again, with a questioning glance. What could she possibly have to say now? "Are y-y-y-you s-sure?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow but seemed to think for a minute. _Okay, good question, I guess… _"Well…we don't know who the raiders are…"

"W-w-we only f-f-fought them off f-for a while." Hinata whispered. "W-we don't know if they are actually g-gone."

"So….no?" Naruto asked, looking a little sad. They hadn't finished the mission? Would that mean a follow up mission? When would that be? Would the Grandma assign more ninjas to the mission? Would Naruto and Hinata go?

"R-right," Hinata whispered. "D-Don't you think the Lady Hokage should assign a f-follow-up mission?"

"I guess…" Naruto replied, sounding sad, even though he hadn't meant to. Now she would think he hated going on the mission with her, which was not true! Everything he did today seemed to be the wrong thing.

"Y-you want to f-finish what you st-start, r-right?" Hinata asked, her pale eyes meeting Narutu's electric blue ones. It caused his heart to freeze for a long moment before starting irregularly.

"Yeah!" Naruto replied, now with conviction. "A ninja shouldn't just do half the work." He wrote down "No" instead. _Why does she have to be so smart? _Naruto thought, half as a joke. The next question asked "If no, explain."

"So, what you just said," Naruto said, referring to that question. Time to focus on the papers again. Then a thought began to form in his mind, and it linked directly to his mouth. "I guess you can write…you have better handwriting_…." Wow, was that the right thing to say? It sounded pretty dumb. Maybe I need to practice thinking more first….Everything I'm doing today _is_ the wrong thing! _

Hinata looked up. Naruto wondered if he saw a little surprise in her pale, lavender eyes. Naruto grinned widely at her. This caused her to blush of course, to which Naruto felt an unexplainable joy. _She's so cute when she blushes. Wait, what? Cute? Since when?_ She managed a shy grin back, and Naruto forgot all this thoughts. _How pretty. _"Okay, write!" he encouraged her. She nodded, and penned the answer.

They went through the papers quickly. As they reached the end, both of them felt a pang of regret that their writing time together would soon be over. _Well, now I can't mess up anymore, right? _Naruto asked himself wryly.

"Is that all?" Hinata asked. "We should write more details."

"Huh? Details?" Naruto asked. "Why?" _Okay, wow, really?_ _That sounded so dumb! Well, I probably am compared to Hinata…_

"It looks good." Hinata replied simply.

"I think we put enough details in…" Naruto trailed off, not wanting to contradict Hinata. What would she think? Would she be angry? Offended? No, what the heck, he could think for himself and give valuable input too! That's what Iruka Sensei always said, anyway… "Grandma might get mad if you write too much…It's more work, you know."

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked down at the paper. She signed her name in her pretty script, and then moved the pen to the next name line.

"I can!" Naruto muttered instantly, not thinking again, and he pulled the pen out of her hands.

"Okay!" Hinata said in a voice definitely above a whisper. Naruto glanced up at her in surprise. Her voice was so melodious even in one word. Was that even possible? Who cares. It just is. Naruto finally penned his name.

"We're done," Hinata said, sounding satisfying.

"Hm." Naruto said, thinking. If anyone else had been his mission partner rather than Hinata, would he still have helped with the paperwork? He decided he'd think about that later…if later ever came. "Who knew paperwork could be this bearable? Thanks, Hinata."

Hinata blushed furiously again. Naruto felt happy again. Naruto hoped Hinata blushed when she was happy. He wouldn't want anything else.

"W-why are you thanking me…" she whispered under her breath.

Naruto didn't reply, but instead got up and stretched. He put his hand back down, and Hinata just stared at it. _Again with the not-thinking… Well, it's already done._ How would it look if he took back his hand? But Hinata was just staring at it, and discomfort prickled down Naruto's back. _Okay, she doesn't need help getting up._ Not that he thought she had anyway. He took back his hand quickly, and looked around the forest, trying to admire the…trees. _Wow, they are so interesting_…he could not believe himself just then.

Hinata finally stood up shakily, which Naruto saw from the corner of his eye.

"Well, I guess we can head ba—" Naruto began, before he turned to look at Hinata properly. "You okay, there?" Naruto let the question slip out. Well, she did look a little weird suddenly. "You look really dizzy…"

"Huh? No…I'm fine…."

Naruto shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say…" He wasn't sure whether he believed her or not, but what could he do about it, anyway?

"We should drop the papers off right away," Hinata said, changing the subject to a more decisive one.

"Okay, I'll do it." Naruto said, reaching for the papers.

Hinata held onto them. "We can go together," she whispered.

Naruto tried not to grin too much. _What, it was just walking together…Not that big of a deal…People walked everywhere everyday…_

Naruto also tried not to skip out of the forest with Hinata at his side. The warm sunlight felt good on his neck after sitting for what felt like forever. Or maybe it had felt like a second, with Hinata there. Oh, who could tell? And did it really matter? There's a word called timeless and Naruto thought it fit pretty well just then.


	13. Chapter 13

EPILOUGE

It was the middle of the night. The moonlight was unusually bright, and the stars twinkled audaciously. All in all, it was a well-lit night. Two young ninjas were out and about, despite the late hour. Being in each other's company was better than all the coffee in the world at that time. They raced each other through the forest, meandered deliberately through the town, and gazed at the stars in a lonely meadow.

The girl was in the boy's arms, her long black hair spread out underneath her head. The boy enjoyed the scent of it, savoring the tickling feeling against his cheek. He tucked his chin in, so his head was resting on the girl's. So far, the girl had been having so much silent, guilt-inducing fun, slinking through the town in the middle of the night, full of candor. The adrenaline had made her forget to be shy and awkward. It was as if the adrenaline-hyped Hinata was a completely different person, and had replaced the normal Hinata.

The adrenaline rush was slowly fading out of her body, neutralizing, and stabilizing, and Hinata missed it desperately. She nestled closer into the boy's body. She didn't want to lose the boldness that had gotten her so close to Naruto so many times in one night. The best part was she had been able to experience them all, with a bright, quick, if not slightly ADHD-characteristic mind. She had been _awake _and _alert _during every moment! She had felt so alive and free.

"Naruto?" she asked, barely a whisper.

"Eh?" Naruto said, encouraging her to continue.

"Do you gaze at the sky ever? Like now?" she asked.

"No, I don't," Naruto answered immediately. "I'm sure it would be too boring, unless you were there."

Hinata felt her mind immerse itself in the praise. "I don't remember the last time I did this," Hinata whispered. "I'm sure it wasn't like now."

There was silence. Hinata took that time to breath in Naruto's scent, and feel the warmth of Naruto's body against hers.

"Hinata? You like me, don't you?"

Hinata felt her heart freeze after hearing the question. This was it, wasn't it? The moment she had been waiting for? All the years she had been hoping and dreaming and in a few seconds it could become reality.

"O-o-of course, Naruto-kun…"

"And ever since that mission, we've been spending an awful lot of time together."

"A-awful?" Hinata stuttered. Was Naruto unhappy in her company? Was she too boring for his eccentric tastes?

"Not awful at all!" Naruto said urgently, sounding worried. "I meant a lot. I like spending time with you…"

The praise should have warmed Hinata to the core. Now it just kept her on edge. She was impatient to see the outcome of the conversation.

"Well, I'm not really sure how to do this…" Naruto adjusted his weight, and Hinata felt him tense up beside her. What was wrong? What was he thinking?

"N-Naruto, what are you trying to say?" Hinata whispered.

"This is awkward…"

"Awkward? Really?" Hinata asked. "Nothing you do could be awkward! You're really cool, Naruto."

Hinata turned and looked into Naruto's deep blue eyes. She noted a hint of surprise in them. "Me? Cool? Well, yeah, of course, but I never thought that you would have noticed."

"I never thought you would have noticed me." Hinata said sadly. "I think the first time you actually noticed me was on the mission. You were forced to after all. I was your only team mate. I fooled myself that you had noticed me before but I know that you didn't."

"Geez, Hinata, you've actually cared about me a lot longer than I have about you… no offense…Sorry."

"It's okay," Hinata said. She didn't want him to feel bad. "You were preoccupied with other things…"

"But I shouldn't have been…When Sakura was obsessed Sasuke why was I wasting my time? And look where that turned out—Sakura doesn't even like Sasuke that much anymore!"

"People's interests change," Hinata said. She didn't want to speak bad about her friend, even if she did steal all of Naruto's attention before.

"But yours didn't," Naruto whispered softly.

Hinata was surprised at Naruto's sudden change of tone. She didn't know what to reply to Naruto.

"What made you like me so much?" Naruto asked. "I sure wasn't returning the favor…"

Hinata looked up at Naruto. "You have such passion, Naruto. You have a fire inside of you that not many people have. Even if they have a fire, it's a small spark. Yours blazes brightly for all to see."

Naruto didn't reply for a moment. Hinata hoped that she hadn't said too much, or sounded too cheesy.

"Wow, Hinata." Naruto said. "That was…really poetic. I sure couldn't say something like that to anyone!"

"Why don't you say something now," Hinata said.

"Eh?" Naruto asked with a spark of surprise.

"I gave you a compliment." Hinata said, dangling the carrot, so to speak.

"Eh…I'm not good at this, you know," Naruto said, trailing off.

"Neither am I," Hinata whispered reassuringly. Naruto looked at her a little unconvinced.

"You're … like an onion."

Hinata widened her eyes in humiliation. _Onion? What? Does my breath smell bad? Am I sour to be around?_ "E-e-excuse me, Naruto-kun?"

"There's a lot of layers to you," Naruto said. "You can't just make an assumption on the first day. Which is basically what I did for so many years."

Hinata still wasn't convinced. _How is that a compliment? Am I bipolar? Difficult to figure out? Confusing?_ "What do you mean?"

"You are quiet and shy," Naruto said, to which Hinata felt her spirits sink. _Yes, always back to that. The q-word and the s-word._ "You can be really brave, though." Hinata looked up in interest. Yes, she was a ninja…but ninjas weren't always brave. They slunk around at night, trying not to be seen. That should have been very easy for Hinata, right?

"Thanks," Hinata whispered. She looked back down. Naruto's answer had seemed really general, and forced. Of course he couldn't like her like she liked him. That might not be possible for anyone. _If only Naruto could know the depths of my love_, Hinata thought.

"Hinata," Naruto said, tilting her chin up with his fingers. Hinata was forced to pull her pale gaze to meet Naruto's dark one. "I may not be as poetic as you, but if what you said about my fire is true, then don't you feel the warmth?"

Hinata felt herself choke up. Warmth? Naruto? Was he saying…

"I may not be the ninja that everyone goes to for concentration or perception," Naruto said, "but all ninjas possess those skills to a degree, right? I think I know what you want. And I'm asking you for that same thing."

Hinata felt her eyes watering and hoped that tears wouldn't fall down. "N-N…."

"Hinata, do you like me as more than a comrade?"

Hinata tried to nod. She hoped Naruto could see her reply.

"Thanks," Naruto said, smiling. He leaned in close. Before Hinata could react, the furious blush rushed back up to her face. She started shaking and would have stuttered incoherently if she had been speaking. Hinata closed her eyes. She felt the air fading from her lungs. _Oh, no. _What was happening? _No, no, no, this is the moment I have been waiting for! I can't go back to sleep! Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake. _The last thing Hinata felt before falling into darkness was the soft brush of lips against hers.


End file.
